John's Story

This is John's story. He is a CA (customer assistant) at a store in Bristol.

I'm John, 20, and i have been working for a Tesco's in Bristol since 2005. since working at the store i have seen a sharp rise in, shall we say, the boom of this supermarket...i remember being younger and Safeway being far more superior. I suppose that's what happens when rich men pump copious amounts of money into marketing...plus clever price slashes that lose us no money at all, really.

i have no problem with this...as sad as it sounds tesco's is in my family and any gain for tesco should really be my gain, as well. problem is...i'm not sure that tesco really ARE looking after their staff and more...of number one.
even when we get 100% mystery shopper and 100% waste for the month...my monthly bonus still his the shits.
i enquire about my colleagues who are on the same level as me and the level of bonus seems to change quite dramatically between us all.
but there is one chap in particular who seems to get more bonus than the rest of us CA's. i kow he's on friendly terms with the admin...but my god...surely there can't be a fiddler of the books in the ranks, can there?
this would also lead me to worry about our boss...this stuff gets checked with him right? so anything untoward would be stopped, right? hmmm...
i'm not one for slander...i was hoping to do a law degree until a few years ago so avidly gobbled up anything on the law i could find as a schoolboy.
i just worry...why can't we all get the same bonus if we work the same hours and have the same age? or does this not matter?

also, the other week i asked if i could complete my gold training and maybe "step up"...i was told "no" in no uncertain terms. why? because i havent reached my potential yet and also they don't need anymore step ups for now.
what happens next? the same chap i was talking about regarding bonuses get's put into the staff room mid shift and told he could complete his gold and start counting till lifts.

is it just me or does this smack of "it's not what you know..."

grrr. i just can't tell anymore. maybe i'm paranoid...but i'm a hard worker. in my last store i was considered a strong team member, potential duty manager matierial, and i'd do any piece of overtime they needed me to do. i'm not the only one airing a concern...a colleague of mine got told there was no overtime even though she needed it (she has a baby to feed, y'see...) but the lovely girl who is mates with the chap who is mates with the admin who is mates with the boss...get 16 hours overtime!

screw that, to be honest...

so, iced fox, whoever you are...thank you for this blog...stuff like this needs to be heard!

thanks again, John.